Energy Exchange

California’s smart and economically savvy plan for electrifying trucks

By Lauren Navarro / Published: March 6, 2020

California is working on a bold new plan that will put more electric trucks on the streets, and take dangerous pollution out of the air. Under this plan, manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks will be required to sell more new electric and fuel-cell options in California, starting in 2024. The final details of this rule will be released over the next few months.

The rule stands to have huge benefits for the 12 million Californians who live in areas with high levels of air pollution. Despite making up just 7% of vehicles on the road, medium- and heavy-duty trucks release 35% of the state’s total NOx and 25% of diesel particulate matter, significantly impacting nearby communities’ health. In fact, vehicles and the fossil fuels that power them create more air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions than any other source across the state.

Also posted in California, Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

These 4 trends prove electric trucks and buses are revving up

By Jason Mathers / Published: February 10, 2020

To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we’ll need to accelerate electrification of the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases in the world: medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. These include vehicles from big semitrucks and delivery vans, to city buses and garbage trucks.

Fortunately, this sector looks poised to grow through 2020 and beyond, good news for the climate and the millions of people who live in cities, where trucks and buses are leading contributors to local air pollution.

Here are four trends that I’ll be monitoring in the year ahead.

Also posted in Air Quality, Electric Vehicles, New York / Comments are closed

Amid an oil and gas boom, New Mexico legislators need to refill regulators’ tanks

By Jon Goldstein / Published: January 31, 2020

As lawmakers convene in Santa Fe for the current legislative session, they face a state transformed by an oil and gas boom. Expanded oil and gas drilling has made New Mexico the No. 3 oil producer in the nation and is transforming large swaths of the state’s landscape.

However, while oil and gas production has skyrocketed over the past decade, years of funding cuts under former Gov. Susana Martinez have left New Mexico’s energy and environmental agencies unable to guarantee oil and gas operations take place safely and responsibly.

The state’s leaders can chart a new course this year by ensuring these agencies have the resources they need to keep pace with industry’s growth and protect the health, air and water of New Mexicans across the state. This will mean going above and beyond the budget proposed for these agencies by Gov. Lujan Grisham in order to get vital regulators back on their feet.

Also posted in Climate, Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged EMNRD, energy, Methane, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, Natural Gas, New Mexico, New Mexico Environment Department, NMED, oil and gas, Permian | Comments are closed

New well integrity rules make Colorado a leader in well safety for workers and neighbors

By Adam Peltz / Published: January 31, 2020

The state of Colorado is poised to adopt some of the nation’s most sophisticated and protective regulations designed to prevent its 60,000 oil and gas wells from leaking or exploding.

Colorado has a history of leading on oil and gas regulatory issues to reduce risks to families, workers and the environment, including the nation’s first regulations to address climate-damaging methane emissions from the industry in 2014. In the wake of the 2017 Firestone tragedy and the passage of a major oil and gas reform bill (SB 181) in 2019, the state has undertaken a whole slate of rule modernizations. Well integrity, for which rules have not been updated since 2008, is up next.

Also posted in Aliso Canyon, Colorado, Methane / Comments are closed

California’s new long-term gas plan is a win for customers and the environment

By Michael Colvin / Published: January 15, 2020

As California moves to decarbonize its electric grid by 2045 and implement its broader economy-wide decarbonization targets, state regulators are beginning to develop a coordinated, equitable and cost-effective plan to proactively manage the transition of the legacy gas system.

Tomorrow, the California Public Utilities Commission is set to open a new rulemaking on its long-term gas planning, the first such rulemaking since 2004 — well before the state’s greenhouse gas laws went into effect. The California energy system has evolved dramatically in the last 15 years, which is why this type of planning is so important for customers, workers, the economy, and ultimately, the success of the state’s climate goals.

Also posted in California, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

New electric buses are a holiday gift for New York City

By Andy Darrell / Published: December 23, 2019

Early Sunday morning last week I stood on a windy rooftop in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan next to a strikingly modern, blue electric bus. It’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen. It is a 60-foot-long articulated bus that bends in the middle and is fully outfitted with state-of-the-art technology and accessories — from USB chargers to heat.

As a climate-solutions advocate, I haven’t been feeling great about the holidays. The news out of Washington, DC isn’t exactly uplifting. The United Nations’ climate talks in Madrid were not easy either and it took too much effort for world leaders to come through with an agreement. Not exactly my idea of holiday cheer.

Also posted in Air Quality, Congestion pricing, Electric Vehicles, New York / Comments are closed